Electricians are routinely required to pull wires through lengthy conduits or pipes. It is not uncommon for such conduits to stretch many feet in length and contain a number of elbows and turns which increase the difficulty of pulling wires through the conduits.
The typical technique for pulling wires through a conduit entails initially pushing a length of resilient spring steel fish tape through the conduit. The fish tape has a substantially rectangular cross section which, in combination with its spring steel construction, allows it to bend around corners within the conduit while maintaining sufficient rigidity to be pushed a considerable distance. A flexible leader with a rounded tip is attached to a free end of the fish tape. The leader enhances the ability to negotiate corners as the fish tape is pushed through the conduit. After the leader reaches the terminal end of the conduit, the electrical wires are attached to the leader. The fish tape and attached wires are then pulled back through the conduit until the leader and the end of the electrical wires exit the end of the conduit into which the leader was initially pushed.
When pulling the wire, one person pulls the fish tape from the one end of the conduit while a second person feeds the electrical wires into the other end of the conduit. The fish tape and the wires are pushed and pulled in increments or strokes of several feet at a time. The two people at opposite ends of the conduit develop a rhythm which allows them to pull and feed wire at the same time, and this rhythm enhances the speed and ease by which the wire is pulled.
The fish tape is reusable so care must be taken not to damage the tape while pushing and pulling it through the conduits. Although the fish tape is sometimes guided by hand, it is difficult to adequately grip the tape when pushing long distances or when pulling a large number of electrical wires, due to the heavy force required to maneuver the tape and the attached wires through the conduit. To gain additional force, a hand tool such as a pair of pliers is typically used to grip the fish tape. Pliers are frequently used due to the ready availability of pliers within the electrician's tool belt or toolbox. However, the jaws of conventional pliers are typically harder than the spring steel fish tape and hence must be used carefully to keep from damaging the reusable fish tape.
Additionally, pliers are inconvenient and inefficient for lengthy wire pulls due to the large number of individual pulling strokes required. With each stroke, the electrician must release the jaws of the pliers from the tape and then firmly regrip the tape at a point several feet further away. Time is lost in releasing and firmly resetting the pliers for each pulling stroke of the fish tape. Furthermore, it is often difficult to maintain the pushing and pulling rhythm, or the rhythm proceeds at a slow pace, when pliers are used.
Furthermore, electricians typically pull the fish tape with only the one hand which holds the pliers. Consequently, some electricians develop back problems due to repeatedly pulling the heavily loaded fish tape with one hand, because of the detrimental ergonomic position in which pulling occurs.
Although pliers are the predominant hand tool used for pulling electrical wire, other tools have been developed for the sole purpose of gripping or pulling fish tape. However, these tools suffer from one or more disadvantages which have precluded their widespread acceptance by electricians.
It is with regard to this background information that the improvements available for the present invention have evolved.